More than 14,000 people deported from three states
7/6/2008 1:24 AM


Associated Press

COLUMBIA -- More than 14,000 illegal immigrants have been deported from Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina in the past eight months, according to federal immigration officials.

"The fact of the matter is that our officers deport people every day. Deportations are up every year. I attribute that to increased activities by the agency and increased resources," Barbara Gonzalez, a regional spokeswoman for the U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement agency, told The Greenville News.

Federal agents find out about illegal immigrants in several different ways. Some jails screen all their prisoners and notify agents when they find someone in the country illegally. Others are caught in workplace raids or by fugitive teams.

Federal officials said 14,118 illegal immigrants in South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia have been deported by the federal government since Oct. 1.

Anyone serving time for a crime must complete their sentence before immigration agents start to deal with them.

When immigrants lose their appeals to stay in the United States, they are sent back on flights home to their native country, sometimes with an escort if there are certain risk factors, Gonzalez said.

Each flight costs taxpayers between $600 and $700 depending on the destination, Gonzalez said.

The Pickens County jail screens all its inmates to see if they are in the country legally. Officials have found 78 illegal immigrants since last August. Twenty of them have already been picked up by federal agents, with agents waiting for 11 more to finish their sentences, assistant sheriff Tim Morgan said.

The ones that aren't picked up tend to have been charged with less serious crimes like reckless driving or disorderly conduct, Morgan said.

The Immigration Customs and Enforcement agency decides which immigrants to deal with based on who is the biggest threat to the community because of national security or public safety threats, Gonzalez said.

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